fairfax, vienna, virginia et washington deecee.

right now i'm in panera bread cafe munching on an oily nutty chocolate chip cookie and sipping lukewarm hazelnut coffee. this place has the only wireless internet service for miles around. and so we walk like 20 minutes from the place where i'm bunking at... called the assembly, just opposite best western fairfax. the place is rather nice... cosy albeit a bit cluttered. effie the landlady's a sweet gal... just up till today there was this irritating black ant infestation... you couldn't sit down for the itch of it, and apparently they went to fumigate the ants. i hope it worked... totally hated sitting on the couch and feeling bitten everywhere.

the weather over here's totally sweltering. wore this tube long top and white shorts out today traipsing all over the place and i believe i have, no i KNOW i have tan lines at the hemline of my shorts. bleah. i tan so fast. norman says it's good practice for when we get back home.. with the seeming heatwave and all. it's just that the air here swirls round with balmy breezes and hasn't a trace of the humidity that home does. the only thing that's missing is the briny sea and some white sandy beach parked within a stone's throw... ah that would be perfect heaven. can't imagine what the temp's like down in texas man. must be even hotter. well, today we walked from dupont circle till georgetown's wisconsin street - georgetown possesses possibly the prettiest (whatta load of Ps!) shopping street ever. nearly went berserk (well, not THAT drastic a reaction really but it DID inspire me to make the outburst that i REALLY want to own a store like that when i grow up if i ever do) at this beautiful paper store called papersource, oh what a weakness for designer stationery i do have! hint, hint. if given enough capital, i'd contact the head company and ask for a franchising license for singapore. goodness knows we're heading in that yuppie direction. which frankly, i don't mind, so long as we don't carry the haughty disposition with it. speaking of franchises... one of my friends is inclined to bring A&F to singapore... well i don't know if that'd be a great idea cos' part of the charm is that it's not available in singapore, but i know that if it DOES kick off, i want a share in it. haha. and gailywaily'd be really hopping happy at that too, although i don't think she reads my blog anymore and THUS wouldn't hear of this except if kim tells her.

well for these past few days since arriving from angie's place i've been visiting museum after museum, feels like sensory overload and information cramming to the max. just today norman and i headed for the national geographic society building, and although they didn't have many exhibits up i learnt stuff nonetheless. the reproductions of the mayan and yucatan masks especially were awesome in their magnitude. yesterday we walked till our toes - well, mine at least - felt like dropping, at the smithsonian museum of american history, of which we only managed to see a third, so i gotta go back on my own again sometime soon. and before that, norman had a meeting so i went to the freer museum of art by myself and went for an hour and a half's tour of asian and american art. i'd like to think of myself as slightly more enlightened but truth be told, i feel more ignorant as the days go by and i reel from even more museum exhibits. on thursday i went to the holocaust memorial museum, like dad recommended. it was very depressing to a mind-numbing extent, and somehow you tell yourself that such an event could hardly have been real, it was and such senseless killings ARE still happening in places around the world. going back and watching hotel rwanda on norman's computer reinforced the feeling that i'm incredibly fortunate, and you are too, if you can go online and read my blog like this.

okays. the cafe closes soon and so my tenuous connection with the outside must, as well. i'm writing a few letters to send out to my dear ones, and if you want one too then tag me else i'd be clueless about you. haha. time to go back and cook dinner! yes mom, i'm becoming more selfsufficient. will cook more often for the family when i get back, and that's a promise. i know how busy you guys are right now, and i'm mentally preparing myself right now for the responsibilities i've got to shoulder once i get back.